Hi all! I have now been working at Automattic for over a week and things are starting to settle in. While core work is essentially the same to what I was doing in the Trial, everything else feels totally different. For example…
- I’m starting to put faces and names together of my colleagues! You start to see different personalities and tendencies, even when communication is vastly text-based. (Or am I reading into things too much? ?)
- I can work on improving my skills with a longer time frame in mind. During the Trial, I knew I had 5 weeks to show them all I had. Now, I can view the work and plan on personal growth in longer terms. This is so much better both mentally and emotionally! ?
- I now have a couple new tools I can access and assist users with that I didn’t have access to in the Trial. I am finding what it means that with great power comes great responsibility… ?
- I am now working on a company-provided Mac, not a Windows. This has been the steepest learning curve yet! I’ve switched back to my Windows to write this post and my hands are getting confused with some of the keys ?
- I use emoji now a lot more in my daily interactions… ?
My Home Office Setup
Automattic is a completely distributed company with no central office. Everybody can work from literally wherever they like! As long as there is reasonable Wi-Fi service, Automatticians can do their work. While this means we can go out and about for work, it also means we can stay at home and work from our comfort there, too. Automattic means it when they say they look out for their employees and their work environments.
It’s taken a few weeks for me to find the best desk, chair, computer, appliances etc. for my workstation at home. But today, the last piece finally arrived! I was so excited, and so was my wife! (See my last post Thank you for the 200 likes!for context there… ? ? )
Company Swag
Automattic also provides its employees with company swag!These range from clothes to accessories, from coffee mugs to books for further learning. I guess seeing a colleague over a video conference call drinking from the same company mug or wearing the same T-shirt creates a sort of “unity” among its employees? This is our uniform, in a sense, and a way to show pride in the work we do and the products we develop/support.
